Lee Davis Personally
Life experiences have equipped Lee in many special ways to understand how and why women must learn to mobilize their inner resources through effective coping skills, healthy relationships, and creative development. Although her academic experience has taught her a lot about human nature, her personal experiences have taught her about life.
As a child, abandoned by her parents, life on the city streets and in the foster care system, then a dysfunctional, abusive foster home where she was abused on a regular, often daily basis, left Lee feeling totally alone in the world.
Not quite a teenager, at the hands of her foster father, Lee was sexually abused. It started out with Lee having to “service” the man she had been calling “dad” since she was five. But once her bedroom was moved to the basement, it was intercourse she experienced three, four, sometimes five nights a week by this man.
There were others that took advantage of her plight in life. As a young child at the age of 5-6, in babysitting and other situations, so-called relatives, both men and older boys, made her a target of their devious sexual behaviors. Of course, she didn’t say “no”. She couldn’t. And this is why.
A victim of learned helplessness, Lee didn’t have the internal boundaries she needed to defend herself. Totally controlled by her foster parents and told over and over that if she didn’t do what was expected of her, she would be taken back to the place from where she came, a place she feared more than anything else in her life. She knew without a doubt that if her foster mother knew what was happening, she would be blamed and off she would go. Her sexual offenders knew it as well and threated that they would tell her foster mother she wanted "him" to do what he did to so she better keep their secret.
In addition to, or because of, having strong emotional issues, Lee had a poor self-image and a strong sense of worthlessness that led to very low self-esteem. Being told that she was ugly, stupid, worthless, and many other derogatory names on a daily basis, being used as a punching bag by one foster parent and a sexual outlet by the other, she never saw herself as anything but ugly and stupid and worthless and unlovable. The clothes provided by the state to foster kids only added to the hatred she felt when she looked in the mirror each morning before going to school. She despised herself and the way she looked.
However, despite the dysfunctions in the foster home, and low self-esteem, Lee eventually learned self-reliance, self-control, anger management, and many other ways to cope in that environment on her own. In the school system, she learned how to seek mentoring from caring educators and library resources to build a strong belief and value system. As a young single mother and welfare recipient, Lee learned gratitude while learning to support herself and her son. She learned to seek career development and educational opportunities wherever and whenever possible. Later, as a divorced woman, and victim of domestic violence, Lee picked herself up and forged ahead.
As a rape victim, who had been forced into a car one night at gunpoint by three men, she learned not only to be aware of her surroundings and to protect herself, but also how to forgive the unforgivable. When she had an abortion, she learned the value of protecting herself. And, as a bone marrow cancer and transplant survivor twice, she found that her previous struggles and achievements had prepared her to face the toughest battles of her life with determination and optimism.
Lee has also had to deal with learning that her biological mother, who was only 42, died of liver cancer, as the older, and only sister, to her sister who committed suicide as a young women of age 36, a brother who spent most of his life from the time he was a teenager in prison, a foster brother who had always depended on her for emotional support who died of aids as a young man at age 30, the inability to find her biological father, and the inability to locate her five half siblings born to her mother.
Other experiences along the way, both pleasant and unpleasant, the coping skills to not only survive but thrive, and the determination to never give up, is what Lee imparts to other girls and women. In spite of how badly she felt about herself, somewhere in the recesses of her mind she knew there had to be something better.
Better than self-sabotage. Better than being a victim. Better than hopelessness and despair. Better than accepting that she was less than anyone else. Devastated by what was her the past and terrified by the unknown that lay before her, at age 25, Lee set out on a path of personal growth and development that led her half way across the country to a life better than she'd ever imagined. When she was 45, she continued to the west coast to a paradise she didn't know existed.
Lee Davis has taken what she learned and continues to teach it to other women and girls. It seems today abuse is still on the rise, sexual abuse right up there at the top, and self-esteem issues continue to take so much away from girls and women who are being abused and sexually abused.
She continues to persevere. She continues to make her life work. She clearly believes in staying in the solution.
Feel free to contact Lee if you have any questions. You can also send her info or questions at Contact Us.
As a child, abandoned by her parents, life on the city streets and in the foster care system, then a dysfunctional, abusive foster home where she was abused on a regular, often daily basis, left Lee feeling totally alone in the world.
Not quite a teenager, at the hands of her foster father, Lee was sexually abused. It started out with Lee having to “service” the man she had been calling “dad” since she was five. But once her bedroom was moved to the basement, it was intercourse she experienced three, four, sometimes five nights a week by this man.
There were others that took advantage of her plight in life. As a young child at the age of 5-6, in babysitting and other situations, so-called relatives, both men and older boys, made her a target of their devious sexual behaviors. Of course, she didn’t say “no”. She couldn’t. And this is why.
A victim of learned helplessness, Lee didn’t have the internal boundaries she needed to defend herself. Totally controlled by her foster parents and told over and over that if she didn’t do what was expected of her, she would be taken back to the place from where she came, a place she feared more than anything else in her life. She knew without a doubt that if her foster mother knew what was happening, she would be blamed and off she would go. Her sexual offenders knew it as well and threated that they would tell her foster mother she wanted "him" to do what he did to so she better keep their secret.
In addition to, or because of, having strong emotional issues, Lee had a poor self-image and a strong sense of worthlessness that led to very low self-esteem. Being told that she was ugly, stupid, worthless, and many other derogatory names on a daily basis, being used as a punching bag by one foster parent and a sexual outlet by the other, she never saw herself as anything but ugly and stupid and worthless and unlovable. The clothes provided by the state to foster kids only added to the hatred she felt when she looked in the mirror each morning before going to school. She despised herself and the way she looked.
However, despite the dysfunctions in the foster home, and low self-esteem, Lee eventually learned self-reliance, self-control, anger management, and many other ways to cope in that environment on her own. In the school system, she learned how to seek mentoring from caring educators and library resources to build a strong belief and value system. As a young single mother and welfare recipient, Lee learned gratitude while learning to support herself and her son. She learned to seek career development and educational opportunities wherever and whenever possible. Later, as a divorced woman, and victim of domestic violence, Lee picked herself up and forged ahead.
As a rape victim, who had been forced into a car one night at gunpoint by three men, she learned not only to be aware of her surroundings and to protect herself, but also how to forgive the unforgivable. When she had an abortion, she learned the value of protecting herself. And, as a bone marrow cancer and transplant survivor twice, she found that her previous struggles and achievements had prepared her to face the toughest battles of her life with determination and optimism.
Lee has also had to deal with learning that her biological mother, who was only 42, died of liver cancer, as the older, and only sister, to her sister who committed suicide as a young women of age 36, a brother who spent most of his life from the time he was a teenager in prison, a foster brother who had always depended on her for emotional support who died of aids as a young man at age 30, the inability to find her biological father, and the inability to locate her five half siblings born to her mother.
Other experiences along the way, both pleasant and unpleasant, the coping skills to not only survive but thrive, and the determination to never give up, is what Lee imparts to other girls and women. In spite of how badly she felt about herself, somewhere in the recesses of her mind she knew there had to be something better.
Better than self-sabotage. Better than being a victim. Better than hopelessness and despair. Better than accepting that she was less than anyone else. Devastated by what was her the past and terrified by the unknown that lay before her, at age 25, Lee set out on a path of personal growth and development that led her half way across the country to a life better than she'd ever imagined. When she was 45, she continued to the west coast to a paradise she didn't know existed.
Lee Davis has taken what she learned and continues to teach it to other women and girls. It seems today abuse is still on the rise, sexual abuse right up there at the top, and self-esteem issues continue to take so much away from girls and women who are being abused and sexually abused.
She continues to persevere. She continues to make her life work. She clearly believes in staying in the solution.
Feel free to contact Lee if you have any questions. You can also send her info or questions at Contact Us.